This pork chop brine guarantees juicy and flavorful chops in a few easy steps.
Pork chops are marinated in a simple brine made with brown sugar, bay leaf, rosemary, salt, and pepper for tasty, tenderized, flavor-infused chops.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Salty, a little sweet, and full of fresh herbs and warm spices.
- Skill Level: Whisk, simmer, and brine. It’s that easy!
- Recommended Tools: A meat thermometer is the perfect tool for gauging how cooked your meat is. Pork should register at 145°F when inserted into the thickest part of the pork chop. Be careful not to touch the bone as it will skew your reading.
Ingredient Tips for Brining Pork Chops
- Base: Water and salt help to tenderize the pork chops. For added flavor, apple juice, apple cider, vegetable stock, or white wine are great additions to the water.
- Seasoning: Add in peppercorns, a bay leaf, and some fresh rosemary to season the pork chops. Experiment with seasoning blends like Italian or a simple seasoned salt to match the menu.
- Sugar: Brown sugar helps to sweeten the brine. You can swap it out for your favorite brown sugar substitute.
- Pork: Pork chops vary in thickness from ½-inch to 1 ½-inches. Look for chops of the same size so they cook evenly. Use bone-in or boneless chops that aren’t previously soaked in brine.
How to Brine Pork Chops
- Simmer the brine ingredients until the sugar and salt are dissolved (full recipe below).
- Refrigerate brine until fully chilled.
- Add chops and brine to a zippered bag and marinate up to 2 hours.
- Rinse and pat the pork chops dry before cooking on the stove or the grill.
Storing Leftovers
Store leftover cooked pork chops in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Enjoy them cold, sliced on a simple green salad, or reheat them in the microwave. Leftovers can be added to a pork stir-fry or some quick and easy pork fajitas.
Freeze chops in a zippered bag for up to one month. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Delicious Pork Chop Recipes
Have you tried this Pork Chop Brine? Leave a rating and comment below.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 cups water
- ¼ cup kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 4 pork chops
Instructions
- In a medium-sized saucepan, add water, kosher salt, sugar, peppercorns, bay leaf, and rosemary.
- Bring to a simmer over high heat. You do not need the water to rapidly boil but you need to make sure the salt and sugar have dissolved in the water.
- Remove the pot from the heat and cool completely.
- Once the brine is cool add the pork chops to a large ziptop bag and pour in the brine.
- Let the pork brine in the refrigerator for up to 2 hours.
- Rinse and pat dry before cooking.
Notes
- Purchase pork that has not been pre-brined. A lot of pork in grocery stores has a saline solution, so using brine on that will make it too salty.
- Ensure sugar and salt are completely dissolved in the brine.
- Brine must be completely cool before adding the pork.
- Don’t brine them too long (up to 2 hours is enough).
- To season pork before cooking, use herbs and spices without salt.
- Do not store ‘used’ brine. Once your pork has been brined, discard the remaining brine.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner, Entree, Main Course
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Used this brine yesterday for our evening meal. Used 10 boneless pork chops and recipe just as directed. I breaded and oven baked the pork chops. They were by far the tenderest chops I have ever prepared. I will definitely use this brine again.
Great recipe but dreadful measurements. How can you scale it up or down. How tablespoons make a cup? Please use grams it’s what most of the world use
To scale the servings you can either use the 2x/3x button or use the print page and adjust either up or down. There are 16 tablespoons in 1 cup.
I think if most of the world uses grams, then the recipe would have been written calling for grams.
240 grams in a cup.
16 Tbsp in. cup.
You can Google this information.
I halved the water and salt and added 1/4 cup olive oil. Great marinade.
Holly, you’re the best! Your website is my “go to” recipe bank for delicious recipes that are easy as well.
Thank you so much, Paul! Glad you are enjoying our recipes.
I have used this countless times and even made a batch to save some in the fridge. NEVER disappoints! THANK YOU
You are so very welcome Jules! So happy to hear that you loved these chops so much!
If I only have 2 thick pork chops to brine should I cut the brine recipe by half or keep it the same?
Hi Victoria, you definitely can half the recipe to avoid having too much wasted.
I am trying this for pork loin chops this weekend.
Can I use regular brown sugar instead of dark?
Yes Germaine, you could use regular brown sugar, but this will change the taste. It’ll still be delicious!
Exceptionally delicious for my grilled chops!!!
Everyone loved them
So happy to hear that, Haiyi!
Holly,
I gotta tell ya…your website is my “go to” place when I’m looking for a recipe that’s quick, easy and delicious without resorting to exotic ingredients. I’ve used more of your recipes than any other website. You’re the best!
That being said, I tried this brining technique yesterday on my pork chops which I pan fried. In the past, my pan fried chops wound up dry and leathery. You brining technique resulted in chops that were moist and tender.
I always look forward to receiving additional recipes from you in my e-mail. Thank you so much.
Thank you so much, Paul! So happy this recipe resulted in such delicious pork chops for you!
I fixed a crockpot full of Pork Chops (using your recipe on this site). I brined half of them per this recipe.
The difference in tenderness between those that I brined for 1 hour and the ones that were not brined was amazing.
Thanks for the tip!
Glad to hear this tip worked well for you, Jean!
I followed the recipe exactly but added a garlic clove, smashed, 1 crushed juniper berry and a slice of onion…yum!!!
I was wanting to know if the salt has to be kosher salt? Can I use plain non iodized salt instead? It sounds really good and I’m going to try this recipe. It sounds awesome
You can use regular salt but you will need a little bit less since the grains are smaller more fits in a spoonful. You can find a salt conversion chart here.
Thank you for all your advise!!
Happy Cooking Penni!
I’m looking forward to your daily emails! Thanks!
Happy Cooking Jenny!
Awesome Recipe and Very Versatile.
I used 1 1/4″ thick pork chops and used the exact ingredients as described. I altered the procedure slightly by boiling the ingredients for about 30 seconds in one cup of water until the sugar and salt were almost dissolved, Then took the pan off the heat and added one cup of cold water, stirred until all the salt and sugar dissolved, and added two more cups of cold water with some ice cubes included. I brined the chops for 6 hours. This recipe says 2 to 4 hours but some say 8 to 12 hours. Anyway, it worked perfectly and was not too salty. I rinsed the chops well and did not add any more salt. This is definitely the way I’ll always prepare pork chops from now on.
From there I dried the chops well and rubbed on a small amount of rubbed sage and powdered garlic.
The pan roast method of cooking the chops is probably the best way of doing them, but I tried another method that also worked well without frying in a pan. I placed the chops on rack over an oven pan and broiled them. I let the chops get good and browned on top, then turned them over, placed a remote read thermometer in one of them and continued broiling until the temperature reached 160F. Although 140F is usually recommended, these were tender and juicy with just a slight hint of pink inside. In other words, they couldn’t have been any better IMHO.
Sounds perfect Dean! Thank you for sharing.
I was so tired of dry center cut pork chops but not anymore.Thank you!
I only had time to brine for 1 hour, but still, the pork was tender and flavourful. This will be my go-to pork chop recipe.
If doubling the water do you double the salt?
Yes, if doubling the water you would double the amount of salt.
Finally! A recipe that helped me succeed in making juicy and tasty pork chops! THANK YOU!
So happy they worked out for you!
Can this brine be used for pork butt/shoulder? If so, how many hours?
That should work just fine Trudy. I would follow the same instructions in this recipe. If you try it I would love to hear how it turns out!